Rithmatic vs Wavepocket
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Rithmatic
This app is an FM synthesizer featuring a vast library of classic voices. It allows users to explore, learn, build, and blend sounds using an intuitive interface and an AUv3 plugin for DAWs. It offers a comprehensive synthesis engine and various playback options.
- 36,118 classic DX7 voices included
- AUv3 plugin for DAWs
- Patch Builder to learn FM synthesis
- Sound blending feature
- On-screen and MIDI keyboard support
- Arpeggiator and latch function
- WAV export
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Rithmatic is an FM synthesizer with 36,118 classic DX7 voices built in, and an AUv3 plugin for GarageBand on iPad and your DAW on the Mac. Browse them by family and by character, learn how FM works by watching it shape each one, build and blend your own, and play them from the on-screen keys or a MIDI keyboard. No account, no ads, nothing locked. IN YOUR DAW • Put it on a track in GarageBand on iPad, or in an Audio Unit host on the Mac such as Ableton Live. • Its window is the app's own Patches screen and Patch Builder, with your library. • Your bank appears as the plugin's presets, and Brightness, Attack, Decay, Release and Feedback can be automated. The patch is saved with your project. A LIBRARY THAT SHIPS FULL • 36,118 unique DX7 voices come with the app: no download, no account, no network. • Start with Essentials: the famous sounds and the songs they're on. • Browse by family, or by character: percussive, plucked, metallic, bright, sustained, swell, evolving, mellow. Or search by name. • Patch of the day: one classic voice each day, in the app and in a widget for iPhone, iPad and Mac. • Every voice is credited to the archive it came from, and to its designer where a bank names one. PLAY IT • A DX7-compatible synthesis engine runs inside the app, so every patch plays with nothing plugged in. • Play from the on-screen keys, your Mac's keyboard, or any MIDI keyboard you connect. • Pitch bend, mod wheel, breath, sustain and aftertouch, with aftertouch set to vibrato, tremolo or swell. • Velocity from a MIDI keyboard, or turn it off and choose how hard every note plays. • An arpeggiator (up, down, up and down, random or as played, over up to three octaves) and a latch that holds each key. • Record what you play and share it as a WAV. • Five tunings: equal, just, and Wendy Carlos's Alpha, Beta and Gamma scales. • Light or dark, as your device is set or as you choose. Drag the keys taller or shorter. • Keys, shortcuts and every synth term, explained under Help. SEE THE SOUND The waveform follows what you play: each operator's envelope, how hard you hit, the pitch, the LFO's wobble, and a chord as one layer per note. Resize it, go full screen, or watch the output itself in the Scope look. PATCH BUILDER: LEARN HOW FM WORKS FM is famous for being hard to program. The Patch Builder shows you why a sound sounds the way it does. • All six operators on a graph, each cable carrying its wave: see a modulator reshape its carrier as you drag. • Draw a cable and the builder snaps to the nearest of the 32 algorithms, so you learn routing by doing it. • Plain words beside the jargon. Edit each operator's ratio, level, envelope and tuning, the LFO and pitch envelope, or use FEEL: thickness, touch and brightness. BLEND Pick two patches and Rithmatic blends them into eight new ones. Play each, and keep the ones you like. YOUR BANK AND FILES • Gather patches from anywhere into your bank, then drag pads to swap or reorder them. • Export the bank as standard DX7 .syx files. Open .syx banks, or a .zip of them, from Files, Mail, AirDrop or the Finder. • Share a sound as a short clip of it playing, with a card and a code that brings the patch into anyone's Rithmatic. WITH A SYNTH, IF YOU HAVE ONE Hardware is optional. Choose your synth in Settings: • Korg Volca FM2 (firmware 1.10 or later, over MIDI): read its current patch, write to any of its 64 memory slots, back up and restore all 16 sequencer patterns, and capture the whole instrument to a snapshot. • DX7 family: send patches and 32-voice banks to a DX7 (mkI/II), TX7, TX802 or the original Volca FM over standard Yamaha voice dumps. FREE AND PRIVATE Every feature is free; tips are optional and unlock nothing. Rithmatic works offline and collects no personal data: no account, no analytics, no ads. KORG and volca are trademarks of Korg Inc. DX7 and TX are trademarks of Yamaha Corporation. Rithmatic is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.
Wavepocket
This pocket studio app combines a synthesizer, drum kit, sampler, and 4-track tape recorder for music creation on your device. It offers multi-touch controls, various sound engines, and a clip-based timeline for easy track arrangement. All your creations are saved locally, and the app works completely offline.
- Synthesizer with multiple sound engines
- 8-pad drum kit with adjustable parameters
- Sampler with chromatic playback and slicing
- 4-track tape recorder with clip timeline
- Versioned tweaks with undo/redo
- Offline functionality
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Wavepocket is a pocket studio: a synthesizer, drum kit, sampler and 4-track tape recorder that fit in your hand. Play it with your fingers: multi-touch chords, glissando slides across the keys, drum pads, and four color-coded encoders that always control what you're looking at. MAKE A SOUND: Analog (saw–square with sub), FM, and Cluster Engines • A sampler engine: play any recording chromatically across the keys • Slice samples on the waveform, name each slice, and flip between them • ADSR envelope, resonant filter, env→cutoff, LFO • Presets by category (bass, keys, strings, brass, lead, pad, pluck, bell). MAKE A BEAT: Synthesized 8-pad drum kit: kick, snare, hats, clap, tom, rim, bell • Kit-wide tune, decay, tone and level • Arpeggiator (up / down / up-down / random) and metronome MAKE A TRACK: 4-track tape with a clip timeline: record in any mode, then drag clips between lanes, trim their edges, and cut at the playhead • Everything shares one loop boundary, so your layers always line up • Mixer with per-track level, pan and mute • Filtered delay and spring-style reverb sends. KEEP EVERYTHING: Every tweak is versioned: undo, redo, or scrub the timeline of your session and annotate the versions worth keeping • Recordings and imports persist on your device between sessions • Save the whole project with settings, history, presets and audio as a single file, and render your mix to MP3 NO STRINGS: No account, no ads, no tracking • Works completely offline • Nothing leaves your device
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Wavepocket at 4.5 against Rithmatic's 4.0. Rithmatic's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Wavepocket holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively.
| Parameter | Rithmatic | Wavepocket |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (4 ratings) | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MADE WITH BEST PRACTICE LLC | MATTHEW RYAN SANDY |
Customer experience
Rithmatic
Wavepocket
In-app purchases
Rithmatic
No in-app purchases
Wavepocket
No in-app purchases








